The Rebel's Princess
by Wicked Dreamz
Summary: My version of season two. She was her town's little princess, untouched by the harshness of reality.... That is... until HE came along and showed her what love is. This is the story of the rebel and his princess. Lit. Plz R&R!
1. So You Wanna Live in Stars Hollow

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Gilmore Girls, nor am I affiliated with it in any way. **

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**The Rebel's Princess**

**Chapter 1: So You Wanna Live in Stars Hollow**

**June 30, 2006

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She was loved by her little town. It was a truth that was universally acknowledged that she was their princess, the cream of their tiny crop. No one objected to her demands and she was generally sheltered from the harshness of the real world. Occasionally, she did have to deal with it, and when those rare times came upon her, she had the support of her little town no matter what the situation was. 

That little town, Stars Hollow, was small enough so that everyone knew each other and big enough so that it had an everlasting charm about it that only some people understood. Outsiders generally blew it off as a gathering for the estranged when they met some of Stars Hollow's quirky residents. But for the people who had lived there for their entire lives, — or nearly that much — it was home and then some.

"Rory!"

Rory stopped on her way to the bus stop and turned around, only to be nearly pummeled by Lane, her best friend. Lane huffed and puffed, pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and then panted some more.

"G'morning. What's got you huffing and puffing and trying to blow my house down?" Rory inquired as she patted Lane on the back to help her catch her breath.

Lane took one last deep breath and then grinned.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "Mama was trying to get me to read the first half of the bible before school, when I saw you walking by. So, I ran out to catch up with you before she could offer to have me bring it along."

"Glad to be of service," Rory answered.

She offered Lane a chocolate chip cookie from the bag Sookie had stashed in her backpack that morning at the inn.

"Thanks," Lane said, grabbing a cookie. She sighed heavily. "I hate the first day of school. It comes with the promise of lots of studying."

Rory grinned.

"Yes... Generally, school does come with that mandatory study rule. It's not all that bad, though."

"Yeah, but you get to go to that awesome private school that's far, _far _away from your mother, _and _you like learning," Lane complained.

"Well yes, but us Gilmores have been, are, and always will be the strangest people on the planet. That's just a fact of life. And you know that I don't like Chilton so much. With its Tristans and Parises," Rory offered, shuddering.

Lane sighed again. It was undeniably true that the residential Gilmore Girls were the quirkiest people she knew, but she loved them all the same, and Rory had definitely mentioned how bad her first year at the Chilton School had gone.

"Hopefully, this year will be better for you, and you know I'll always be around afterwards for moral support and an endless supply of music to match your emotional needs."

Rory nodded.

"Yeah, and maybe Paris won't be so bad this year," she said. But even as she voiced it out loud, she knew she was lying to herself.

"Well, I should get going... Good luck!"

Lane parted with her when Stars Hollow High School came into view. Rory continued to the bus stop hoping Dean would be waiting for her.

A smile came to her face when she saw that he was, indeed, waiting on the bench for her. He was skimming through a book that looked fairly new until he saw her walking up.

"Good morning," Rory greeted him, bending forward to kiss him.

"'Morning," Dean replied.

She took the seat beside him and asked, "What are you reading?"

Dean held up the book as if to ask her 'this?'. Rory nodded.

"Oh, this isn't mine. It's actually for you," he said.

Rory raised an eyebrow. He'd gotten her a book? Somehow, she knew he was too perfect. He held it out to her and she took it, staring at the cover.

"_The Fortress of Solitude?"_ she read out loud to herself.

"I knew you wanted it so I thought I'd get it for you," Dean said, running a nervous hand through his brown hair.

Rory grinned and gave him a hug. As she pulled away, she offered a kiss.

"Thank you... so much! I've wanted this forever!"

Eventually, the bus heading to Hartford arrived and, giving Dean another hug and the promise of meeting up with him at Luke's Diner after school, Rory boarded and girded herself for her first day of the school year at Chilton.

The school _looked _the same, the people looked the same, and even the teachers hadn't changed, but there was something about the atmosphere that gave Rory the chills. As she approached her locker, she realized what had caused the bad feeling. _It _was making out with some slut on top of her locker.

"I don't understand how they can suck face like that. It's like their lips are octopus suckers and they can't seem to get themselves to let go of each other," Paris's voiced floated out from the other side of Tristan and his whore.

"Not again!" Rory grumbled.

She walked around the couple making out and found Paris with a furious look on her face standing in front of Mr. Medina's class.

Paris noticed Rory for the first time and Louise and Madeline walked away. Rory tried giving her a smile but it seemed like Paris wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

"What, you're back... _again?_" she snarled.

"Unbelievably enough, yes," Rory replied.

"There isn't room for the both of us at this school, you know?" Paris said.

"I agree, but right now it seems as if there isn't room for _either _of us at this school," Rory said, gesturing toward Tristan.

"I've tried everything. It's like there's a force field around them or something. They're immune to sound, sight, and touch... but they've got the taste factor down pretty well."

Rory sighed heavily and tapped Tristan on the shoulder. There was no reaction but a loud moan from the girl he was kissing.

Rory shuddered and stormed away into Mr. Medina's class. If he couldn't help her, there was no point trying to get to her locker at all that morning.

Max was sitting at his desk with his nose stuck in a copy of _The Art of War _when she walked in. He snapped the book shut when he noticed her standing in front of him.

"Good morning, Rory," he said. And upon seeing her distressed face, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

Rory explained her dilemma and Max stood up with a sigh.

Getting to her locker that morning was the least of Rory's problems as Paris _accidently _spilled her chocolate pudding on Rory's uniform at lunch and Tristan _unknowingly _took the last available seat in her Economics class.

By the end of the day, Rory was in dire need of coffee and a long nap.

As she walked down the main hallway toward the school's entrance, Max caught abruptly up to her. He seemed to be on his way out himself.

"Do you need a ride home, Rory?" he asked her.

"Are you coming to Stars Hollow?" she asked him.

"Yeah, your mother and I have a date planned for tonight," he explained.

"Well, if you're coming anyway..."

She accepted the offer and an awkward thirty-minute ride to Stars Hollow ensued. Lorelai's fiancee had never been too sure as to how he was supposed to treat Rory and she hadn't ever been too sure about how she was supposed to act around him. Eventually, they'd gotten used to being around each other, but it was still nonetheless an anxious atmosphere.

Rory had Mr. Medina drop her off at Lane's house, or at least, the fence in front of Lane's house.

"I'll be fine, Mama... we're just going to Luke's!"

Lane came running across the front lawn of Kim's Antiques a moment after Max had left with her mother glaring angrily at Rory as she did.

"Hello," Rory said pleasantly. "I see your mother's hatred of me hasn't decreased any."

"Hurry!" Lane hissed. "My mom thinks we're meeting Dean and I don't want her to change her mind."

"Lane," Rory began, "we _are _meeting Dean."

"I know! But she doesn't have to know that!"

The conversation was much calmer as they got out of eyesight of Mrs. Kim. Lane explained her first day of school and how life after band was coming for her.

"And, how was your day?" she inquired.

Rory rolled her blue eyes involuntarily. She gestured to her stained gray Chilton vest. Maybe Sookie would know how to get the stain out.

"The Paris hurricane hit hard, huh?" Lane said, sympathetically.

Rory nodded and began explaining the day's events. By the end of it, Lane was fuming and had offered twice to blow Paris out of the ball park.

"Ugh!" Rory sighed. "She makes me so mad!"

Lane's eyes widened suddenly at this and she squealed. Rory almost jumped at the abrupt outburst and waited for Lane to explain.

"This is the part where you explain your strange and unexpected exclamation," Rory prompted.

Lane, who had gone into some sort of stupor, nodded vehemently.

"Right." She paused. "There was a new student in school today."

Rory nodded.

"Did Lane make a new friend?" she asked.

"Oh, God no. He was horrible," Lane said. "Cuter than Dean, in a 'rebel without a cause' sort of way."

Rory's blue eyes widened. A boy cuter than Dean in Stars Hollow? It was unthinkable, unbelievable.

"Is the town going crazy?"

"Naturally," Lane said, nodding. "Oh, you haven't even heard the best part yet!"

Rory waited for her to continue.

"He's Luke's nephew! His sister in New York sent him down to stay with Luke... something about reformation. She said that Stars Hollow would do a world of good for him," Lane explained.

"I didn't know Luke was allowed to have nephews," Rory said, taking in the information.

There was a pregnant pause as they reached the street in front of the diner. Rory could see Dean waiting outside for her and she wondered how cute the other boy had to be for him to be better-looking than Dean.

"Luke's nephew, huh?" she mumbled.

Lane nodded.

"Yeah I know! It's weird."

They made their way across the street toward Luke's.

"So, uh... what's his name?" Rory asked.

Lane thought about it for a moment.

"Come to think of it, I don't know his name. I just know that he's already got detention for smoking in front of the school during class and that he's seventeen," Lane said.

"Talk about an enigma," Rory muttered.

"Yeah, tell me about it. He's got that whole 'whatever' attitude going on. It's kind of like a James Dean thing, I'd say," Lane explained.

Dean turned around when he heard them approaching and gave Rory a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey," he said to Lane.

"Hi," Lane replied.

She told them she'd meet them in the diner and walked in ahead of the pair. Dean grinned and told Rory she couldn't have found a better friend.

"How was school?" he asked.

"Don't even get me started. I'll go on for hours in that Kurt Cobain way and I'll end up sounding like I'm some misunderstood, stoned juvenile delinquent," Rory said.

"Alright, alright," Dean laughed.

"Come on, let's go in. I need coffee," Rory replied.

She grabbed Dean's hand and pulled him into the diner. It was as busy as ever and Rory found Lorelai and Max sitting at a table near the corner of the room. She noticed Miss Patty arguing with Taylor about some sort of permit she didn't have for her dance studio and Kirk was wearing a hairnet and apron with a coffee pot in his hands pouring coffee for some of the costumers.

"So you're saying that drinking too much coffee will turn my teeth yellow?" Lorelai was saying as Dean and Rory approached.

"Yeah, as amazing as it is," Max answered, grinning.

"No, see... I don't think I understand what you're saying. Can you explain it one more time?" Lorelai said, that so very 'Lorelai' grin on her face.

She took a french fry from her plate and stuck it in her mouth, taking a gulp of her coffee with it.

"It's no use, Max," Rory said. "She's deaf to any cons about coffee. Last time we made a pro-con list, she tore it in half and burned the con half."

"Well hello, offspring of mine... and her boyfriend," Lorelai greeted.

Rory leaned down and kissed her mother on the cheek. She took an available seat and Dean sat down across from her.

Rory waited for Luke to come by their table to order as her mother and Max kept their ongoing banter steady. Lane, who was sitting at the counter talking to a schoolmate of hers, noticed Rory and Dean and walked up to their table.

"Samantha Maverick just told me his name's Jess," she said quietly to Rory.

Rory didn't let on that they were talking about the new Stars Hollow resident and invited Lane to sit with them.

"So what are you crazy kids up to tonight?" Rory asked Max and Lorelai.

"Dinner, movie... wedding plans," Max explained.

"Yeah, what he said without the wedding plans part," Lorelai inserted, throwing a narrow-eyed glare at her fiancee. "You sound like J-Lo, you think like J-Lo, but I'm dearly hoping you're not J-Lo."

Max laughed.

"No more _Wedding Planner _for you," he said, and then he paused. "I sound like J-Lo?"

"And here he comes," Lane whispered.

Rory's concentration on the current conversation was interrupted as a new figure made his way toward their table with a notepad in hand.

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**A/N: **I hope I got the characters right. Please review! Thanks! 


	2. Some People Never Go Crazy

**DISCLAIMER: **Don't own Gilmore Girls... wish I did, but I don't. 

**WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED FOR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS OF ANY KIND. AND... it's really short.**  
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**The Rebel's Princess **

Chapter 2: Some People Never Go Crazy...

July 2, 2006

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**He was tall. Or... he looked tall from her seat. His spiky black hair seemed to amplify his height. She knew he had to be taller than she was, but he didn't have the imposing figure that Dean had. And there was an urban look about him — the way he walked, his slight accent as he asked what they wanted to eat. His hazel-eyed gaze was intense as he looked upon the table. He smelled like cigarettes and coffee and some kind of cologne and oddly enough... like books. 

"Rory?" Dean was trying to get her attention and she snapped her head to look back at him.

"What?" she asked.

Blushing, Rory realized she'd been staring at Stars Hollow's newest arrival. From the corner of her eye, she noticed him smirk at her. It was a crooked smirk and she knew it had to be one-of-a-kind. She'd never seen anyone smirk that way before. But when she realized that he was amused by her reaction to him, she held back a glare and ordered her meal wishing him away as quick as possible.

"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead," he mumbled, walking away.

And now he was quoting Charles Bukowski. There was something very wrong with that.

"Well, we should get going," Lorelai said, choosing to ignore Rory's momentary lapse of judgment.

She'd tried time and again to tell Luke not to give into Liz's pleas, and yet here was Jess. The entire town was going crazy, talking about the cigarette-smoking hooligan. Miss Patty and Babette had been giddy upon seeing him, and Taylor had, and was still, shaking his head every time he saw the boy.

She and Max bid Lane, Dean, and Rory goodbye and left after paying Luke at the counter.

"That kid's odd," Dean commented. "The new guy."

"Yeah, he is," Rory mumbled.

Lane, who'd been blindly staring out the window, abruptly stood up and knocked her chair over.

"I have to go! Call me later, Rory," she said hastily, running out of the diner.

Rory nodded and noticed Mrs. Kim walking around across the street. She shook her head, laughing quietly to herself. Now it was just she and Dean sitting alone at their table. Dean, busy with eating his cheeseburger that Cesar had dropped off, didn't notice the odd daze that Rory seemed to be in.

"Rory!" Luke called out in all his gruffy glory.

Rory turned around and when she saw Luke gesturing for her to come to the counter, she excused herself from Dean and sat down on a barstool.

"Hey, Luke," she said, grinning.

He automatically poured her a large mug of coffee. Rory thanked him profusely, explaining how much she needed the caffeine that day.

"Jess! Get your butt out here! There's someone I want you to meet," Luke called out.

Jess walked out from store room with his nose stuck in... Well, well, a Charles Bukowski book. It was the one from which he had quoted, _Betting on the Muse Poems and Stories. _There was a pen in his left hand that he seemed to be holding onto so that he could write in the novel. Rory didn't understand why a person would ever write in a book and decided that Jess lost some critical brownie points for his vandalism.

"Jess, this is Rory. Rory, this is my nephew Jess," Luke said, introducing them.

Jess mumbled a, "Hey."

He glanced up from his book for a moment and when he saw that she was the girl from the table who'd stared at him, he put the book down and smirked.

Rory replied with a terse, "Nice to meet you."

"So, Rory," Luke began, "I was thinking that you might show Jess around town for a while... Just... just until he gets used to being here."

Rory turned to Luke with a "you've got to be kidding me" expression on her face. He couldn't really be serious... The look on his face told her that he was.

"U-Uh, yeah — sure," she stuttered.

Luke gave her an awkward smile.

"Great! Uh, thanks," he said.

Jess crossed his arms in front of his chest, that ridiculous smirk still in place. Rory tried hard not to glare at him because Luke was still standing there.

"Well, I'm going to get back to Dean now," Rory said.

"Hey uh, if you don't mind... I really wanted to see the Fall Festival tonight," Jess replied, stopping her.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah... tonight. Like, not now but a few hours from now. That kind of tonight."

Rory nodded curtly and offered to meet him at the diner around six. When she got back to the table, Dean was finished with his food and ready to go. They paid at the counter and left.

"What was that all about?" he asked her once they got outside.

"Luke just wants me to show Jess around the town until he gets used to living here," Rory said.

Dean's brow furrowed and he unconsciously grabbed her hand.

"Oh. So are we still on for tonight's Festival?" he inquired.

"Oh no! I can't. I'm really sorry, Dean. I promised Jess I would bring him to the festival. It'll be a great way for him to meet some new people, everyone will be there," Rory explained.

Dean's hand tensed in hers and she knew even as he said that he was, he wasn't alright with it.

"What if I meet up with you after the festival? At the Black, White, and Red bookstore for a movie?"

Dean, looking around, nodded.

"Fine. I'll see you after the festival then," he said, and left her standing alone outside the diner.

As Rory was getting ready for the Festival that night, the phone rang. She hopped around, trying to put her shoes on and find the phone at the same time. It wasn't on the receiver in the living room and it wasn't in the kitchen. She heard it ringing in the tv armoire and wondered why Lorelai would put it in there, when she realized that she had been the one to leave the phone in there.

She picked up to hear Lane yelling, "I'm leaving in a minute!"

"Lane?"

"Oh, hi, Rory," Lane replied, bemused.

"What's up?"

"Remember when I told you that I would meet up with you and Dean at the festival tonight?" Lane said.

Rory rolled her eyes, remembering that she'd promised Lane as well that they would go to the festival.

"Yeah..." she said.

"Well, I can't go with you. Apparently one of my dad's business associates is in town with his seventeen-year-old son, a future optometrist, and my mom set me up for a date with him and his sister and her husband tonight. I think my mom's losing faith in me getting a good husband... Optometrists are low for her standards..."

"Oh. Well, that's okay. I canceled my date with Dean for the festival anyway. Luke asked me to show Jess around for a while and he wanted to go to the festival," Rory explained.

"Taking James Dean out? Good luck with that," Lane replied sympathetically.

"Yeah well... I don't know how it'll go."

"I have to go... I think the future optometrist and his extended family are here for our date. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

At the diner, before Rory's imminent arrival, Luke decided he would speak to Jess about the tour guide he'd set up.

"Look, Jess... you've gotta understand that this girl comes with heavy baggage. The entire town is crazy about her and her mother, especially her boyfriend. He's not one to be taken lightly. So, if you know what's right for you... you'll leave her the hell alone," Luke warned him.

Jess sighed nonchalantly.

"What makes you so sure that I'm going to try something with this girl?" he asked.

"The way you looked at her when I introduced you. I know that look. It's that look you give when you want something and you'll do whatever it takes to get it," Luke said.

"I have no such look!" Jess denied.

"You _have _a look, Jess."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Do I have your word that you'll leave Rory alone? I knew she would never say no if I asked her to show you around... but now I'm not so sure I want her around you."

"What? I can't believe this! You're patronizing me!" Jess exclaimed.

He noticed Rory approaching the diner and gave Luke one last glare before walking around the counter to meet her.

"Give me your word," Luke hissed.

"No."

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**A/N: **Heyyy! Guess what? I'm back. Huh. Well, I really didn't expect any feedback on the last chapter, but I got some and boy am I glad! Thanks for the reviews, guys! Anyway, a bit of background to this story... It takes place the summer after Season 1 ended. The reason I'm writing this is that I've only seen about the last 3-4 episodes of season 2, but I know what the gist of it is... and I really didn't like how it played out... So... of course, I decided to butt-in and write my own version. I really hope I have the characters right because I've never written Gilmore Girls fanfiction... I only just started READING it a few days ago... so I'm new to the concept. 

Basically what I'm trying to say is... don't flame me. And... I'm all for constructive criticism, so if you've got some... do tell me! Kay, thanks again for the reviews, and hope you like this chapter!


	3. The One Where Lorelai Dumps Max

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Gilmore Girls or any brand names mentioned in the following text. Don't sue me. : )  
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**The Rebel's Princess **

Chapter 3: The One Where Lorelai Dumps Max

July 9, 2006

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"Oh, God... they're busting out the kids in leaf costumes," Rory sighed.

She and Jess were walking around the town in utter boredom. They'd bumped into Lane on her pseudo-date with the future optometrist and Rory had smiled sympathetically at her. They'd also run into Kirk in a pumpkin-outfit and Miss Patty had already tried to hit on Jess.

"Is this a normal occurrence?" Jess asked her, gesturing at the Fall Festival.

"Oh yeah... you'll see one of these every month or so. Sometimes Taylor goes crazy and we have two or three a month," Rory said. "This town loves to celebrate."

"It's full of unbalanced weirdos," Jess mumbled.

Rory eyed him and replied, "They're not all bad."

Jess looked back at her and shrugged.

"Sfar's I've seen..."

"Rory!"

They turned around and spotted Dean coming their way, his little sister Clara in tow. He was looking at Jess warily and Rory did her best to put some space between them. Jess smirked at her and stood closer.

"Dean, hey," Rory said awkwardly.

"Hi, Rory," Clara said.

Rory greeted Dean's sister and the group of four stood awkwardly in front of the empty Luke's diner until Dean broke it by saying he would catch Rory later that night.

"He your boyfriend?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched them walk away.

"Uh, yes... yes he is," Rory replied. "Why?"

"Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command," he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking around. "Alan Watts."

Seeing no one there, Jess pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"What do you mean by that? I love Dean very much," Rory insisted.

"Mmhm," Jess replied.

He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and walked into the diner, leaving Rory standing outside on the curb. She groaned and walked back to the Town Square to find Dean.

After their movie at the Black White and Red Bookstore, Dean walked Rory back to her house where Rory found Lorelai sitting on the porch in tears.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

She bid Dean a quick goodbye and ran up to her mother. Lorelai shook her head and smiled sadly at her daughter.

"I called the wedding off," she said by way of explanation.

Rory's blue eyes widened and she rubbed Lorelai's back soothingly. Why would she call the wedding off?

"But why? I thought you were ready for this!"

"Because I don't love him, babe. I was so sure about this..."

"Come on," Rory said, pulling Lorelai to her feet.

"Where are we going?"

Rory looked at her mother and smiled.

"You're going to wallow, of course," she said. "Now... first we're going to get Luke out of bed to make us the biggest cup of coffee he can muster up and then we're going to Doose's Market to get as much chocolate and ice cream as possible and then we're going to go to the video store and pick up an angst-filled chick-flick."

Lorelai wiped her face free of tears and pulled Rory into a hug. She kissed her temple, all the while stroking her hair.

"Rory... I want you to know... If he had been right for me... I would know. I promise," she whispered.

"I know," Rory said. "I just... I really wanted him to be my stepfather."

"I'm sure he would have been a great step dad for you," Lorelai replied.

She pulled away from Rory and grabbed her hand. They bounded off the porch and made their way into the dark Stars Hollow. Most of the people were still celebrating at the Fall Festival, but there were some milling around town at the stores that were still open and at the bookstore for a late showing.

Luke's Diner was dark and closed but Rory banged on the door as hard as she could until Luke came running down the stairs in a huff. He looked mad enough to want to shoot someone, so Rory gestured to Lorelai and he begrudgingly opened the door to let them in.

"You're despicable," he grumbled.

"And yet, you opened the door," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai sat down quietly on a stool at the counter and Rory wondered if she should leave them alone to talk.

"Uh, is Jess upstairs?" she asked Luke.

He nodded at her and she took that as invitation enough to walk around and up the stairs. As she neared the door to Luke's apartment, she heard the tv blaring and knocked when she noticed the lights were still on.

Jess came to the door wearing a pair of flannel pants with socks on. Rory blushed and decided she would probably be better off downstairs. She was about to turn around when Jess spoke.

"Are you just going to stand there or were you actually going to come in?" he asked her.

He left her standing at the door and returned to the dining table to read. It was a different book than the one from that afternoon. _Anna Karenina _stared back at her as she walked up to the table.

"Uh, if you don't mind," Rory began, gesturing to his bare-chested-ness.

"Am I making little Miss Gilmore blush? I thought your boyfriend would do enough of that," Jess scoffed.

"What is it with you and your snotty remarks about Dean? If you want us to be friends, you have _got _to stop insulting my boyfriend," Rory replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jess shrugged.

"The two of you amuse me," he said by way of reply.

Rory, staring at the carpet, glared.

"You're a jerk," she said.

"So I've been told. And yet, here you are," he replied. His scrutinizing gaze never moved away from her. "Why _are _you here anyway?"

"My mom wanted coffee," Rory said.

"At nearly eleven o'clock? Your mother's an odd woman," Jess said.

"Don't start."

"Don't start what?"

"You don't even know my mother. Don't start insulting her," Rory exclaimed, still gazing at the ground.

"I wasn't going to, but fine."

There was silence for a few minutes as Rory continued to seemingly be fascinated by the ground and Jess read from his Tolstoy book. The noise of the tv prevented any awkwardness.

"I should get back," Rory said.

"Yeah, probably."

"Goodnight, Jess."

"Goodnight, Rory," Jess answered.

She walked awkwardly out of the apartment and back down to the diner where Lorelai was sipping out of a mug of coffee as she pestered Luke about the autumn decorations Taylor had made him put on his windows.

"Hey, there," Rory said, giving Lorelai a smile. "Ready for some chocolate binging?"

Lorelai grinned at her.

"Yep. This coffee's got me on a high and I'm ready to binge," she said.

Luke smirked from behind the counter and Lorelai walked out of the diner after Rory said she'd be out in a minute.

"Thanks, Luke," Rory said.

She stood awkwardly at the foot of the stairs for a moment before deciding to get it over with before she chickened out. She rushed up to Luke and gave him a quick hug.

"Really. Thank you."

Luke, stunned by Rory's sudden display of affection, clumsily patted her on the back. Rory stepped away and rushed quickly out of the diner. Luke stared out after them until Jess broke him out of his reverie.

"You missed most of Three's Company."

"Yeah well... whatever," Luke muttered.

"You're really hooked," Jess replied and he hurried up the stairs before Luke could deny it.

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**A/N:**Sorry for the lateness and the lack of longness (is that a word?) of this chapter. I've been kinda busy writing for my original fiction story on Fiction Press. Anyway, I know the chapter's short... I knowwww. I'm sorry. I didn't want to drag it out and make it boring, so Lorelai broke up with Max, boohoo, lol. I actually liked Max in the show (ahhh! gasp!) but just as Rory's teacher and not as Lorelai's boyfriend. So he'll be back as her teacher sooner or later. Umm... oh yeah, a little JavaJunkie fluffage in thischapter. My way of saying how much I like the Luke/Lorelai pairing. 

The next chapter covers the immediate aftermath of Lorelai's breakup and the town's reaction, so not much Jess/Rory coming up (although there will be some! not to fear!).

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate them!**

**IMPORTANT NEWS: **My website's finally up and running so do check out the sections I made for Fanfiction and for Character Pics! Thanks.


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